A Million in One
by Wolfofsherwood
Summary: Lydia isn't your average mutant, but her sisters insist that she's a cut above the rest instead of the other way around. And those sisters live in her head! Will Xavier's school be able to handle a million girls in one? Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Lydia is a typical Midwestern girl, except for the fact that she's a mutant with multiple personalities. She was never liked as a child, so she doesn't freely give up the information to just anyone. Well, Lain doesn't. Kelly could care less and Nina wants to tell everyone in sight! With so many people in one head, how long can Lydia maintain her distance when she's feeling so different? And what about the scientific breakthrough she represents? Will Lydia ever find peace in Xavier's school?

**Wolf:** Yo, I thought I'd take a break from "Like Everyone Else" because I'd already started writing this one. There are a few things I have to make clear before you start reading too far into the story and start getting really confused. When I refer to Lydia, I mean the body of the main character. When I say any other names that will then be revealed, I mean that they, as a personality, are being directly referred to. For ease, a couple of the names are both Lydia and another name to show you how it works for this chapter only. The rest you have to figure out on your own. R & R, please, and if you have any tips, let me know.

* * *

The X-men thought they had trouble when someone like Rogue joined the group. Her powers were dangerous to both herself and others. Now, there was a new batch of students and among them, there was Lydia DuPont, a girl just out of childhood and already on the road to being a very dangerous mutant with powers she couldn't control, and even some she hadn't even discovered.

Not many of the other students knew much about her from their class introduction. Professor X also found that her mind was separated into multiple distinct personalities, all of which worked together to make up Lydia, but none of them knew all of the story and the other personalities were always alerting their sister when someone was trying to pry. The professor knew a few things, but not enough to make him feel calm about using the girl as a team member or student. His morals prevented him from openly probing her mind, so it was almost impossible to set his mind at ease.

As far as anyone could tell, Lydia was just a small girl with a sickly pallor that covered her coffee-colored skin. Her hair, black and let loose so that it hung to her stomach without obstruction, covered deep blue eyes that never quite met another person's gaze directly.

Surprisingly, when the new students met up with Nightcrawler and the other first generation of students, she'd been the only one not even a little surprised by his blue appearance. Beast hadn't frightened her either, even though he thought it was fun to scare the new students and it had always worked before. She was just a quiet girl who took orders and seemed to have complete control over her powers and emotions.

Well, that was the impression for the first few days. After that, she started to open up to Nightcrawler, although no one else could even come close to her. She didn't trust people easily and it seemed that the professor would allow her to be as recluse as she needed to be for the moment. The fact that she was already making friends with the so-called 'unreachable' older mutants was a good thing.

"So, you were telling me about your old family," Nightcrawler said with a smile as Lydia stopped. Her head was suddenly spinning and she clutched it gently. Since she was a person called Lain at the moment, one of her other personalities was trying to get through, but she wouldn't let it. She was having a nice conversation with someone for once.

"Yeah," Lydia/Lain continued, her Midwestern accent making her one of the majority in at least how she spoke. "Back up in Wisconsin, I lived with my dad and my brothers. They were all older than me so I never knew what to expect from them. You're kind of like Dave, Kurt. Maybe that's why you seem so familiar."

Nightcrawler smiled widely and sat down next to Lydia/Lain on the bed. "My family was just my mother and my father," he told her. "They fished me out of a river, you know."

"I guess that makes you a sort of fish, huh?" Lydia/Lain said in a different voice. She covered her mouth and her eyes widened as she thought the word 'fish' loudly within her mind, not being able to stop the echo as it reached where her powers were locked away. Suddenly, the bed she and Nightcrawler had been sitting on turned into a thrashing muskellunge that didn't seem to mind that it was out of water.

"I'm _so _sorry," she shouted as things started crashing around. Nightcrawler smiled at his new friend while she opened the door to shout for help in getting the fish out of her room. It was nearly seven feet long, a really good size if she'd been fishing, but that was hardly the time or place for one. If she wasn't careful, it would try and bite someone's hand off. These fish were carnivores. If there was meat in front of them they would take it, even if it was still connected to something as big as the fish itself.

Other mutants gathered in the doorway while Nightcrawler and Lydia/Lain started to hold onto the fish and try to make it stop thrashing so much.

"That's it!" Nightcrawler shouted, teleporting himself and the fish out of the room. Lydia/Lain had turned bright red by this point and she saw people snickering and talking about her. Without trying, she'd successfully turned the student body against her. This year of school was just going great. It had only been three days and already she was considered weird, even for a mutant.

She would end up being alone at this school, too. It wouldn't be different from back at home, just using seperate reasons.

When Nightcrawler returned, Jean Grey walked into the room and sent everyone else out. Lydia was left there, alone and without a bed. "Professor Xavier wants to see you, Lydia," Jean told her, smiling softly at the girl she knew had caused the trouble with her powers.

"I know," Lydia/Lain said with a sigh. She hoped that no one would kick her out because of this incident. It had only been a bed, after all. She hadn't done it to Nightcrawler, which was a good thing. She'd accidentally turned her brother into a weasel once because of those stupid power of hers.

"Ah, Lydia," the professor said as she walked in. He was also with a man Lydia remembered as Logan. She thought his codename was Wolverine or something, but she couldn't be sure without consulting her other selves.

"Actually, it's easier to call me Lain for the moment," Lydia/Lain told him, showing him exactly which personality she was for their visit. Lain had been in control for almost a week now, and she knew that she wouldn't be there for much longer since she'd used her powers.

"Alright, Lain," the professor continued, unconsciously scanning the girl one last time to see if her thoughts were apparent enough to see without prying. "Would you tell me why you turned your bed into a… What kind of fish was it, Logan?"

"A musky," Lain told them both, rolling her eyes. "Look, I didn't want to turn it into a fish, but I said that made Kurt a fish and I was touching the bed. My powers react to what I say and I wasn't watching my tongue. It'll be a bed again in a few hours, so don't worry about buying a new one."

Logan snorted at that. He seemed to believe that Lydia could and had turned her bed into a fish about as much as her old 'friends' had when her powers first manifested themselves.

"But as for the rest of you," Professor Xavier continued, silently asking Jean and Kurt to fish out the bed from the bay, especially since a freshwater fish couldn't survive in saltwater, "I need to catalogue your powers to prevent further incidents. There was only so much I could tell your father about you without setting off one of your less agreeable personalities."

Lain sighed. "You can read my mind, can't you?" she told the older man. "Why don't you just to that and save me the trouble of explaining everything to you?" The professor seemed surprised that Lydia was so willing to get her mind read. Before, she'd refused a hundred times even when the professor had given up asking and tried to covince her instead.

Of course, that could have had something to do with the fact that her brothers were hovering protectively around her all the time. She seemed more like a stuffed doll to them than a person. Her father hadn't been much better. The older man was convinced that his daughter was an average human and her skills as a mutant were negligible if he didn't talk about them.

As Lain sat down, the professor reached out to her and was suddenly in her mind. It took the form of a hallway littered with different doors, each probably representing a personality. At the end of the hall there was a sort of circular room, filled with light. It was interesting, but Charles had the distinct impression that he wasn't allowed into that room of light, something he respected. Some parts of the mind were private. He wouldn't go deeper than he was invited unless it was urgent.

While Charles looked around one more time to try and take in as much detail as possible, he noticed that a few people were staring from their door and several were stepping out of the room of light. Lydia was there in all of them. One eventually stopped in front of him and smiled. She was Lydia as he remembered from her physical body, but she was a little taller and her hair was much shorter. This must have been Lain's form, the dominant personality in the girl.

"Here, Charles," she told him, handing over a set of keys, each stranger than the next. "Use that to unlock any unfriendly door, if you think you can handle it. The ones that don't care whether you're here won't have locked their doors, so I'd visit them first and try to make friends. I hope you enjoy your examination. Don't get hurt, please. That would be too bad." With that, Lain bounced on the ground and through the ceiling, disappearing as quickly as she'd appeared in the first place.

Charles looked around and started his journey. The doors beckoned and he had work to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wolf: **Well, thank you Kit Cloud the time ghost, Satta Kurosama, and BlackHeartFrozenSolid for their reviews and I'll try to flesh it out more like Kit asked me to, but my style is kind of… contradictory to that. Also, with school starting just after Labor Day, I might update faster. Yeah, I'm pretty much the opposite of every other writer… ever. I write better and faster under a lot of stress.

* * *

While Charles was wheeling down the hallway, looking at the doors and their intricacies, he realized that there were personalities here that Lydia as a community hadn't had to deal with yet. They were rusted over and in need of painting, or at least that was what they looked like. Some looked like they hadn't even been painted a first time, meaning anything. Charles didn't have a huge amount of experience in the area of multiple personalities.

There was one door that was obviously unlocked and it looked inviting. The door, from what the professor could see, was covered in bubbles and diamonds. The hall itself had similar traits for the ceiling and floors, but instead of bubbles it was what looked like water all around him. The light came from nowhere but still bathed him in a glow while the door he'd been staring at opened for him.

Charles went inside and was immediately greeted by a small person, like Lydia, but much happier. Her hair was in pigtails, and she was dressed in pink, probably to represent how child-like she was. After all, the professor has some sway as to how Lydia's mind would display for him.

"Hello, professor," the child said. "I'm Nina. It's good to meet you. I was watching when Lain was talking to you. You seem pretty nice for an old guy."

"What can you tell me about your powers?" Charles asked, preferring not to banter with personalities. He knew that outside of their heads, time was passing. Nina knew this as well and didn't take offense at his briskness.

"I don't have any," Nina replied. "Try the doors with the red circles on them. Those are the ones with powers. We decided it when it started to be a little confusing in here. There were too many to always remember right away." Nina watched the professor leave and ran out the door.

"Don't go into Sophie's room unless she says it's okay!" she called, trying to throw that last bit of advice at Professor Xavier before he made a mistake that could have cost him something important. Then she went back to her toys and the door closed gently.

Charles hadn't realized that so many doors were red and came to the first one he saw, clearly marked with the red circle and two snakes curling around each other. The snakes seemed rather menacing although the door wasn't locked, so Charles decided to knock before entering.

"I see you managed to open the door, Professor X," a voice called, as Charles pushed said door open and viewed the girl in her seemingly endless room. "Are you having fun playing with the _children_?" The Lydia this time was completely different, taller, more muscular, and possessing scars that marred her face.

"Are you one of the personalities with powers?" Charles asked, looking at her. The girl smirked and sat on a bed of red silk that suddenly appeared in the room. Her entire aura emitted anger, something that made Charles stay wary. Angry people were usually quicker to show their hand and try to hurt others. She could be a danger to the rest of the students if she got like that.

"I'm Kelly, for your information," she said. "How about I give you a demonstration, my little intruder? I never actually invited you in the door, you know. That was very rude of you to just come into a lady's quarters."

Her eyes flashed suddenly and she held out her arms, throwing Charles back with an immense heat wave. Fireballs spat at him as he was forcefully thrown from the room, landing on the other side of the hallway as the door shut heavily. The snakes winked at him. She must have been a very angry person, someone to watch out for. That or he caught her in a bad mood. It was really a toss-up.

The door Charles was sitting near also had a red mark, but it was dark and was locked when Charles tried to open it. He pulled out the set of keys Lain had given him and a key with the shape of a heart on the end showed up. It pulled toward the door and it opened to reveal a darkened chamber with lights on two objects, a girl and a teddy bear with its stuffing ripped out. Another light illuminated him, making his clothing turn into a demented figure being overwhelmed with shadows, like the rest of the room.

"Hello," Charles said carefully, hoping that this personality wasn't as violent as the other had been. If there was more than one personality with offensive powers that used them like Kelly did, Charles felt that his school might be in trouble. Of course, he didn't want to turn the girl away. Where else could she go, really? The Brotherhood wasn't exactly looking for another girl who could destroy their house.

The girl was silent while she slowly looked up, shivering. Charles noted immediately that she seemed like a very nervous person and he didn't want to spook her any more than necessary.

"I'm Sophie," she said suddenly, looking away. "You'd better get out. You're scary and bad things happen when I get scared." Charles felt a chill down his spine as he remembered Nina's warning. He decided to chance it, though, and stayed.

"I'm warning you," Sophie said again as he didn't move. Charles tried to mentally reassure her and order her to be calm, but he only found animal instinct there and the girl attacked. She had deformed claws and fangs now that Charles could see and he was thrown back out of the room while he tried to defend himself.

Sophie's door shut tight again while Charles moved on, getting a little more beat up as time went on. He found several pleasant personalities who controlled different aspects of Lain's powers of transformation but with a little twist to make the power their own. From what Charles observed, they wanted him to enter their minds about as much as Kelly did. They were just much nicer about it.

It seemed the girls viewed intrusion as just something they dealt with all the time when they had sisters in such close proximity. Charles wasn't used to the rules, so he didn't realize that a couple of the girls weren't pleased with his blatant intrusions. He didn't know the intricacies of women's rituals and the 

girls had established a set of codes that had to have been different from any other woman in the world. After all, there were people here who could easily invade another's private time.

Eventually the whole business was done with and Charles had gotten a few scratches and such because of people who weren't very happy with his intrusions. Most were from Sophie, whose attack was probably second only to Kelly's fiery encounter. Both of those personalities would have to be watched, although they seemed fairly decent toward the other girls. Dislike of all things male was a distinct possibility to exempt them from the label of unnecessarily violent.

The professor pulled out of Lydia's mind and the girl shook her head. Logan was still there, watching, but he looked a little bored of it. Who knew how much time had passed? Professor X couldn't really tell in his disoriented state.

"You may go back to your room now, Lain," Charles said, holding his head. The wounds he'd gotten inside of her mind formed into a headache back in the real world. It was gnawing on his brain, like some beast had decided that it would be fun to bite at the base of his skull and make all the lights seem far too bright.

"Actually, it's Kelly now," Lydia replied, smirking in that same way she had inside of her 'room'. Charles backed up as she stood and left, her manner completely different than gentle Lain. Logan seemed a little amused at this, not realizing yet that she was actually many different people. He hadn't been given the full explanation, although he would soon. Something like Lydia's situation wasn't a sort of thing they could keep under wraps. It would make good research material for mutant studies and the teachers had to be notified of the importance Lydia could potentially possess.

"Keep an eye on her," Charles ordered, reaching out to Nightcrawler, her only friend, to do the same as he'd ordered Logan. Kurt seemed surprised at the order, but didn't question it. The professor was almost always right about things like that and watching out for people never hurt. In fact, it was very good of him to keep an eye on his little buddy. She needed all the friends she could get, being so far from home.

"Hey, Lydia," Nightcrawler said as Kelly passed him without saying a word. Almost like it was an instinct, a flame shot out of her hands and nearly singed Nightcrawler's fur. He evaded the attack using Logan's response training, and even then it was a close call.

_Click_.

Lydia shook her head, becoming Lain again. Kelly was gone with Lain's anger at the invasion of all of her mind. Instead, there was just the contented and shy girl who was usually in control.

"I'm sorry," she said with a soft smile. "I'm afraid something came over me." _Yeah_, Kelly sneered. _And its name was Lain._ Lain pushed back at the personality and Kelly was banished to her room, where she was probably sulking. Kelly was always sulking when her fun was ruined. She would have loved to hit the little blue guy.

"Did you eat too much dinner?" Nightcrawler asked jokingly. "It was pretty spicy, after all." Lain laughed, pulling her personalities back under control. They each knew their place and if Nightcrawler kept this up he'd meet another of her. That wasn't a good option, especially since she hadn't officially revealed herself to him. It would come as a big shock.

"I didn't actually eat dinner just yet," Lain told him. "I was with the professor since the fish incident." She looked down. "I'm afraid he's going to blow the coop on a couple of things that I prefer under wraps. It can't be helped, though."

"The professor doesn't do things without a reason," Nightcrawler told her reassuringly, touching her shoulder gently. Lain looked up, something inside of her fighting for control. She clamped it down, maintaining her composure although it was difficult. Nightcrawler spoke again.

"So, we'll get you fed while you tell me about your blown coop. Then, it won't be so bad when you blow it to everyone else." Lain followed Nightcrawler, feeling, somehow, that he was a good person and she could tell him about her problems. He would listen and probably not hate her for it. He had enough problems to forgive someone else's.


	3. Chapter 3

**Wolf: **Wow. I just realized that my mind has pretty much short-circuited for the last weeks and I'm sorry about that. I really couldn't concentrate on anything, though. I consider myself lucky to be able to finish sentences in coherent order an accomplishment right now. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

Lain hadn't realized that she was so hungry until Kurt started bringing food out of the fridge. He'd told her that she needed to keep her strength and eat three times a day. The teachers would work her hard in this school.

"Thank you," she told Kurt while she put the food in the microwave and waited. "Now, why are you being so nice to me?"

"Can't a guy be nice?" Kurt wanted to know, smiling when Lain really didn't have an answer to that. She'd never been taken care of by someone who wasn't her family before and it was a little scary for her. If she became the wrong person, even for a moment, she would lose this new relationship. That terrified the girl, mostly because it had happened before. Actually, it had happened many times.

A smile crossed her face as Kurt made himself comfortable, looking pretty happy to be that way. "So, do you really want to be the first to know which coop I'm going to blow?" she asked as the food got done. She sat down and sighed, eating quickly despite herself. She'd always eaten fast, mostly to beat her brothers, who insisted on contests like that.

"If you want to tell me then tell me," Kurt told her, smirking. He was a nice guy and Lain fought against her mind so that she would be the one to tell him. Her mind was already being overwrought and she didn't know how long she could hold out against herself. Her other personalities were just as eager to break the news, just to see his reaction.

"I'm kind of a psycho," she said eventually. Kurt laughed, so Lydia looked down. It wasn't likely that he would have believed her, but she'd hoped. Kurt noticed that she wasn't laughing with him and frowned.

"What do you man, 'a psycho?'" he asked, looking confused. "You seem normal to me." Lain sighed, not realizing that her anger was mounting under her consciousness. She didn't like it when people questioned her. If she said she was a freak, then she was. That was that. The sympathy in his eyes was too much and it fueled a rage that she knew would lead to…

_Click._

Lydia stood up, now Kelly. Kelly was always in a bad mood, always sassing off to someone. Kurt was her newest target, apparently.

"Look, fur ball, if I said I had problems then you should just believe me and drop it," Kelly snapped, the ends of her hair starting to glow with flames that she could generate and contain. Kurt looked taken aback, surprised that such a violent person had come out of gentle little Lydia.

Kelly put out her hair and turned away, washing her dishes and putting them back without thought. Her anger was fueled by his kindness and she clutched her head as a massive headache rolled through her. Those types of aches and pains were usual for her, but they were getting worse lately.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, leaning over the girl in front of him and not knowing whether he should have been scared or concerned. Kelly felt tears of pain wet her eyes and knew that if she didn't do something soon, one of the personalities she and the others had locked behind iron bars, one that the professor wasn't even allowed to meet, would come out. They rarely talked about those personalities because the mention of their names was enough to make them try and get loose again.

_Let me take control_, someone in the back of Kelly's mind said. _I can take pain_. Kelly relinquished command only when she was sure that the headache was spreading and getting worse. Kelly hated pain, although she enjoyed causing it.

_Click._

"I'm okay now, Kurt," the new personality, Nina, said with a huge grin. Kurt looked twice to make sure that there was no fire anywhere on her person.

"Sorry about Kelly," Nina continued, putting away the dishes her counterpart had left out. "I'm Nina, one of the personalities that make up Lydia. That's the thing about us, you know. We're kind of… weird like that."

Kurt shook his head, trying to absorb all of this information. "So who was I talking to before Kelly?" he asked. At least this answer would be easy, he thought. It would be much easier to believe this if they actually had proof.

"You were talking to Lain," Nina told him. "She's kind of bossy, really. I think I'm more fun than her." Kurt sighed at this. It was all too confusing and oddly similar to Rogue's situation. Of course, Rogue had all of her personalities locked away with her powers. This little girl's personalities changed up pretty often.

_Will all teachers and Lydia report to the main room?_ the professor asked telepathically. Nina shook her head and took Kurt's hand, ignoring his strange fingers and fur. She was just making friends and nothing bothered her. She was like a little kid that way.

"Come on, Kurt," she said with a smile over her shoulder. "I'll tell you all about us when this is over, okay?" Kurt followed helplessly, still as confused as he'd started. Nina just walked to the main room and skipped to an open seat, drawing stares. People had only seen the introverted Lain, not bouncy Nina. It must have been a shock to them all.

A few of his student teachers were there, so the professor didn't seem to object to Kurt being there. Besides, Nina was giving him the puppy eyes to let him stay. Kurt sat down next to Beast, who seemed rather interested in the change in character from one girl to the next.

"Beast, we've been talking about how personalities often effect the growth of powers, correct?" the professor said with a nod at the resident scientist. "This explains why identical twins can sometimes have different powers although their genetic makeup is the same."

"Other than that, though, there is no proof," Beast replied. He looked at the professor questioningly while Nina squirmed, wanting to jump up and declare herself the answer. Lain's stern voice in the back of her mind stopped her, though. Even Kelly was against an unneeded shout.

"Actually, we_ do _have proof, should she care to help us," the professor said with a small nod in Lydia's direction. "Lydia, or rather…" He trailed off for a moment, letting Nina fill in her name.

"Nina," the girl supplied, grinning. She was getting her way over the older girls and they couldn't do anything about it. Kelly growled. Lain was silent but annoyed. Nina was laughing at them inside of her head, knowing that they wouldn't be very happy with the outcome, whatever it was going to be.

"Nina," the professor repeated, "is one of several personalities who inhabit Lydia." Jean looked a little surprised as Nina nodded, smiling widely. They'd noted the change in personality, but assumed she was just a little less shy than she had been.

"Most of them have a power, but I don't have any in case you're wondering," Nina told them. "Nope, I was born after they got their powers so I don't have anything at all." She shrugged as Beast looked like he was going to question her. "I don't know about anything before I was born, so you have to ask someone else."

"I'd like to talk to Lain, if it's possible," the professor said, sighing. He looked at Beast, who was pleading to examine the girl thoroughly. Storm looked politely interested, although she'd never been very interested in where her powers came from. Scott was the same, although he knew that when people understood where powers came from he would be able to learn to suppress his and not have to wear glasses all the time. Jean was more interested in Lydia and how there were people other than the girl she was talking to living inside of that body.

"Sure," Nina said, calling up her sister, who'd been listening intently. _Just a moment_, she told Nina. _I've got to try and remember everything before I talk to him._

_Click._

"You called?" Lain asked, her aura completely changing in that moment. She was now much shyer and wouldn't meet Kurt's eyes. She didn't even want to look around, feeling that the people around her were staring. This was the girl the teachers recognized.

"Who is the oldest personality?" the professor asked. "Beast wants to ask a few questions, but we need someone with more information than Nina had.

"That's me and Kelly," Lain told him. "We're the only ones who haven't died yet. I think Kelly is a little older, but I'm the more levelheaded one." She smiled. "Kelly would get angry at you. The damage would set you back quite a bit if she was feeling uncooperative."

Beast gestured for Nina to follow him for a moment while the professor explained how this was relevant, going into detail about how multiple personalities was a disease of the mind that they had to know about, just like having diabetes and other things. They would have to learn to deal with the girls accordingly and that would take time.

Lain answered as many questions as she could, but there was only so much she could do. Lydia had been the oldest of them all, but she'd died a long time ago, or so Lain explained to Beast. She went into the powers of all of the girls who had either died or faded away, including the powers she and her current sisters had.

"This is all fascinating," Beast commented, taking notes. Lain felt like she was some sort of animal on display, but said nothing. Kelly was annoyed enough for the both of them. If Lain lost a moment, she felt that someone less willing to answer questions would come out.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Lydia and Kurt were let go and Kurt led Lain back to her room. He stopped awkwardly outside, scratching the back of his head.

"So…" he began, looking as uneasy as he felt.

"Thank you for walking me back," Lain told him, smiling shyly. She blocked out parts of the conversation, wanting to keep this from her sisters. "I'm happy you're not running in terror yet."

Kurt laughed at that, making Lain blush. She hadn't meant it to be funny, but it was good that he liked what she said. That usually meant he wasn't going to make fun of her.

"Most people run away from me at first, actually," Kurt told her after a moment of awkward silence. "Being blue and having a tail is kind of a turn-off." Lain looked at his sad eyes and tilted her head, hearing the racket her sisters were causing because they couldn't tell what was going on. Lydia was going to be a war zone for a few minutes once she was alone.

"Well, I've never been one to run away from someone just because they're different than I am," Lain told him. "If I don't like you, there's always a good chance someone in here will. Of course, if one of us doesn't like you, then it could get confusing if you run into me at the wrong time."

"So?" Kurt asked, smiling again. "Do all of you like me?"

Lydia opened her head for debate, letting her control slip for a moment while her sisters started answering. "Some more than others," Kelly said out loud, making Lain blush with the same body while Kelly was still grinning. Kurt looked confused by that, but Lain was back in the driver's seat and carefully studied her toes.

"Sorry about that," she said quietly. "Kelly can get out of hand." She mentally scolded the hotheaded girl while she turned her attention back to Kurt. He was holding in a laugh when Lain jumped away from her doorknob. It had turned into a clenched fist made of gold and she growled.

"At least it's not alive," Kurt snickered. Lain sighed at that and her blush deepened despite her best efforts. Her powers were going to become very troublesome if she didn't have the time to think about every word she said before saying it. If she thought too loudly, or didn't take proper precautions, someone could get turned into something they fundamentally could never really be without her help.

"Lights out, everyone!" Storm said through the intercom system. Kurt looked around as everyone started to gather in their rooms. He grinned one more time before vanishing in his signature puff of smoke.

Very stinky smoke, Lain amended, coughing. It smelt like she'd just tossed a skunk body into a vat of garlic and then took a huge whiff of it.

_You still like him_, Kelly taunted as Lain got ready for bed. The lights wouldn't turn on, so she fumbled around before changing into her pajamas. Her shoes were placed under her bed, which smelled faintly of fish oil and damp. The other girls soon took up the taunt and Lain was blushing so hard she thought her face was going to explode.

"So what if I like him?" she asked the girls, not knowing that her voice out loud instead of in her head where it belonged. "It's perfectly okay for me to like someone. I mean, I'm not some little kid like I used to be."

_Hey!_ Nina said playfully. _I'm supposed to be the kid around here._ The others laughed at the joke like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard, but Lain sighed and got into bed, turning onto her side and grunting.

"Lights out, people," she murmured. "It's time to go to sleep." With that, Lain forced her eyes shut and ignored the grumbles until unconsciousness claimed them all.

What she didn't realize is that a certain brunette with the gift of gab had been walking by on her way to the kitchen at that exact moment and heard that little confession. Kitty smiled. This gossip was juicy.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the wait... I lost my train of thought and rewrote this chapter about... Hmm... five times. So, I don't know if it follows the story, but I've introduced characters! This story is going to unfold in its fullest soon enough, but bear with me for now.

* * *

It was morning, bright and… well, very bright. Lydia covered her eyes as she automatically opened them because of the alarm clock. She considered herself one of the lucky ones to have her own room, but that didn't stop her from muttering, "Annoying piece of junk." She immediately regretted how her little alarm clock suddenly fell apart and stopped working. That meant she'd have to set it… Again.

Down at the cafeteria, or at least what Lydia called the cafeteria, various teenagers were shouting to be heard over the others and several were using their powers to trick each other. For example, one of the boys with abilities in fire had just made a girl's eggs explode. She then shot two bolts of light at him, missing, and blinding another boy, who shouted and knocked over yet another teen. It was actually rather funny, but the antics stopped when Lain sat down in an empty chair and piled food onto her plate. Staring like that, the teens quickly drew her attention.

"Do I have something on my face?" Lain asked in confusion, blushing. She looked at the others, eyes wide and lips trembling, until one of them broke down and stopped staring. Others followed, but Lain had the distinct impression that they'd continue staring the moment her attention was diverted.

Lain ate anyway, giving herself over to Nina, who refused to be put down over anything. She cheerfully sipped orange juice and looked over at Kitty, who was whispering furiously and looking around. She giggled with the rest of them and when Nina got up to put her dishes away it only got worse. Nina seriously checked herself for anything out of the ordinary, but she found nothing. Unless she'd somehow gotten something on her face that was making everyone laugh, she didn't think that there was any reason for someone to be doing so.

_Maybe she heard about us_, Sophie offered darkly. Her voice trembled and Nina forced herself back into calmness. She couldn't afford to let Sophie out on them, not with all that giggling. Sophie hated when people laughed at her, mostly because of the things that had happened back home. None of the girls liked remembering their home.

_They're probably just trying to haze us out,_ Ritzie, another one of the personalities offered. She was always offering logical suggestions, but she had the fatal flaw of never thinking anything could be wrong with her. And, by extension, that meant nothing the girls in her head could ever do any wrong either.

In any case, Nina skipped back to her room and pulled out her notebooks for the day. She didn't bother hanging around the campus of the institute before she walked to school with the other early birds who didn't have cars. Even they were a bit standoffish, though.

Aristotle, yet another girl, spoke up. _I want to fly to school today_, she whined, earning a series of groans. She always wanted to fly, but it wasn't always that she could. Nina wasn't feeling her best today and Lain wanted a break from the stares, so she gladly handed over the reins. Almost immediately, feet left the ground and Aristotle was forced to think about drowning babies to keep herself on the pavement. She couldn't help that any happy thoughts she had resulted in a change in her mass, but she didn't want to float to school. The wind could have been in the wrong direction.

However, the urge to take to the air won out and she hopped from roof to roof, passing all of the other students, although she always waved. When people she didn't know looked up, she was sure to hide and keep herself close to the roof, thanking no one in particular that her clothes were the kind that eyes just slid right past. No one really cared, though. Mutant hazing had stopped for the most part and people couldn't have dealt with the large crowd that would come to any mutant's defense. The teens this year were a little more levelheaded than the teen that had been in Scott and Jean's, as well as the others', classes.

But still, there were rules about mutants using their powers on school grounds, so Lain had to take over and walk the rest of the way. Her slumped form and natural tendency to look down gave her the image of a downcast child instead of a girl who was at the top of her class had could kick someone's butt without even having to resort to her powers.

The Xavier students were usually the first ones at school, so there was no surprise in Lain's eyes when she saw that Kurt was goofing off with a couple of boys she recognized as seniors. They smirked when she walked past them, which Kurt quickly noticed.

"Lydia!" he said with a big smile on his face. Before school hours, he was allowed to go out in his blue and real form, but he was choosing to be the "normal" Kurt today. Lain looked away and nodded to him, feeling the racket in her head increase with his proximity.

"So, are you friends with me today?" he asked, ignoring how shy she was being. The other boys watched, waiting for their friend to finish his little conversation. They knew that they'd be introduced, mostly because that was just who Kurt was. He was a good person and wanted everyone to be friends, with the exception of jerks.

"I'm always friends with you, Kurt," Lain told him, meeting his eyes for a moment before her gaze was focused on the girls who were looking in her direction and giving her various signs of encouragement. Now what did that mean? Lain was slightly confused, but she didn't care much about it and so turned back to the mutant in front of her.

"Well, these are my other friends, Mark and Ryan," Kurt told her, gesturing to the two boys he'd been talking to earlier. "Mark is on the football team and Ryan plays hockey," he explained further, pointing out that the attractive raven-haired boy was Mark and the redhead was Ryan. Both were obviously a hit with the ladies, although Mark was a little too feminine for Lain's tastes and Ryan seemed a little too slow.

_Oh, who are you kidding?_ Kelly taunted. _We all know you like the fuzzy guys._ Lain popped one of her fingers before shaking hands with the both of them, silencing Kelly the whole time. Kelly only laughed and Aristotle made a few jokes that they wouldn't have expected from her. Even Ritzie laughed at the one about how she was only interested in guys from another species.

"I'm La—Lydia," she introduced herself, hoping that her slip of the tongue wasn't going to be caught.

"Hi, La-Lydia," the two chorused, making Lain's face turn dark with embarrassment. She could see now why Kurt liked these guys. They were both witty, even though the lame jokes were obviously the staple of their humor.

Lain suddenly wished that she could just sink into the dirt, but realized what she was thinking and stopped before the last word. Even so, she felt her books starting to tingle and her eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," she said quickly, swearing in her mind with words she couldn't possibly say with her mouth. Kurt looked surprised, but he saw the sand on her fingers and sighed. Those powers were pesky and she wasn't supposed to show people what she could do. It was one of the new rules that there were no powers to be used on the campus.

In the bathroom, Lain swore with her unsaid words. While she was alone, it wasn't so bad and her books were already in a pile of dirt on the floor. "Fuck my dumbass powers," she muttered, scooping up as much of the dirt she could get. Then she put her hands on the pile and wished with all her mind that it would go back to being books, or at least the shape and consistency of books.

It was then that three girls walked in and saw some girl leaning over a pile of dirt. The three laughed until they saw the pile move on its own and start to change color and shape. With widened eyes, they saw Lain pick up the books she'd accidentally changed and sigh, brushing past the girls without a word. They looked at each other, and then at the flickering lights that were just then regaining their circuitry.

That was the thing about Lain's powers. Although she could shift things into something else without trouble for a little while, it was much more difficult to turn it back. She had to borrow energy from the surrounding area, like the powers of movement, electricity, and even heat. It wasn't very convenient, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She needed those books.

Getting to class was a fairly simple procedure and Lain talked to the few acquaintances that were willing to speak with a so-called freak. They noticed the grainy look to her notebooks and sighed. Lain, since transferring in at the beginning of the year, had been charged thousands of dollars for ruining books, only to have them shown in perfect condition later. She just had too many accidents and her ways of fixing things left much to be desired.

"So, did you heard the rumor going around about Kurt yet?" one of the boys who had decided to talk to her asked. Lain shook her head, looking like she couldn't hear rumors at all. It was no surprise, being away from other people a lot of the time.

"Wait, do you mean the one where he's supposed to have had someone ask him out?" another girl asked, looking confused.

"I heard it was a guy," another girl volunteered.

"I heard he accepted," yet another boy said, snickering. The group laughed at that. Kurt was probably the straightest guy they knew. He was always flirting with girls and he'd probably never even thought about being gay, or so they thought.

"So, Lydia, did he get asked out?" someone had the gall to ask. Lain shrugged, feeling quiet and sighing. If it was true, her shots were blown out the window.

_He would have been too unpredictable anyway_, Sophie tried to comfort, giving Lain a mental pat on the back. Ritzie went on a monologue about how guys just didn't see the pretty girls in front of them until it was too late and that he'd come around again after they found someone who was smart, kind, funny, sexy, and sweet.

_I don't think a guy like that exists,_ Nina pointed out.

_No, he probably does, but he's married,_ Aristotle argued. _Or he's old. Or he's a teacher._

The girls gave a collective retching noise at that. No one wanted to date teachers in that head. They were usually old or female or married or, in Beast's case, furry. None of them fit the image the girls had come up with for a perfect guy. Even acceptable guys were hard to find, especially if the girls wanted him single.

But Lain was distracted and snapped herself back into reality just as she heard the bell ring. She went and sat at her desk, letting class begin and listening intently to the teacher instead of the discussion in her head on the pros and cons of the acceptability of college professors or dating teachers ten years from now.

When school was done, Lain had heard no less than fifteen different rumors concerning Kurt and a certain someone, who was probably male. They ranged from Kurt being asked out to Kurt asking someone out, with an outrageous rumor that supposedly insisted that the person had flung himself on Kurt and they'd been caught making out. Kurt heard that one and his blush almost shorted out his little watch, making his entire appearance glitch for a moment.

Lain allowed herself a smirk despite how self-conscious she was feeling that day. She loved how Kurt added more rumors to the mill when he walked up to Mark and Ryan and gave them both big hugs. And Lain noticed that they weren't the typical male-on-male hug, where they stood about a foot apart and patted each other on the back. No, it was a full squeeze-and-throw-out-any-personal-space hug. Lain was pulled in after a moment just to make the circle complete.

The girl smelled only the strong scent of body wash from Mark, who had just gotten out of gym, and the sweet smell of Kurt's fur. Ryan smelled like cigarettes, but he couldn't have been the one smoking him or she would have picked out other signs, like yellowed teeth and fingernails or the bloodshot eyes she associated with smokers.

All in all, the hug was nice, but Lain felt too constricted with the boys around her. Struggling, she pulled back and her smile was lost. She didn't like being hugged so tightly and Kelly was shouting in her head about how boys had no respect for females and that they'd probably wanted to feel her up or something. Lain put a hand on her temple, closing her eyes and sighing. Kurt noticed, so his hug was shorted and he put a hand on her shoulder. The friendly reminder that he was still there made Kelly shut up, at least for a little while.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, smiling as Lain looked over at him in surprise.

"I'm fine, but Kelly is practically screaming," Lain told him, trusting that no one else would get it. She banked on people not knowing about how she was several people unless she told them. If word got out about it, she'd have no end to the people who claimed she was doing it for attention or the people who wanted her to switch personalities on command. No one liked being a freak, but Lain didn't want things to end up like a circus.

"I'll take you home today," Kurt offered, holding up one hand. "Wait here and I'll be right back." He walked back over to the guys, talking in a low voice, before running off. Mark and Ryan settled on a table and gestured for Lain to sit down. She did, but warily. They were two big, burly guys she hardly knew, after all. Who wouldn't have been wary?

"So, how long have you been friends with Kurt?" Ryan asked, looking like he was about to laugh. His grin was a little comforting and Lain relaxed a little. Kelly was still grumbling about pedophiles or something, but Nina was practically leaning forward in her mental seat. It was a funny feeling.

"Since the day I moved to the institute," Lain told him, adjusting her backpack. Mark leaned forward and put his face in one hand, cupping his chin. The movement was a little awkward and his pose seemed forced, but Lain wasn't interested in watching the boy closely. She was talking to the voices in her head instead of the people around her.

"That means you're a mutant, doesn't it?" Ryan asked, looking curious, much like his friend had. He also took one of the classic thinker poses, leaning forward to entwine his hands and rest his chin on top of them. Together, the both of them looked like a painting by some deranged man intent on making the viewer of his pieces feel uncomfortable.

"I am, but that means nothing," Lain told them. She smiled a small smirk that meant very little. It said nothing about her mood and even less about what she thought about.

"So what are your powers?" Mark asked.

"I'd rather not make it known," the girl replied, wishing that Kurt would appear. If he could use his powers on campus, it would have been so much easier for them both. She wanted to just go home. The boys were making her uncomfortable with their intense stares.

"Why not?" Ryan questioned. "I mean, if you have something cool, you should just tell everybody. It would earn you some respect."

"I don't care. I don't like talking about my powers."

Before the boys could interrogate further, Kurt walked too quickly to meet back up with the girl. "Let's go home," he said with a hesitant smile. "I'll see you later, Mark, Ryan." Lain stood up and her hands brushed against Ryan's things. The book on top was the last thing to touch her fingers, but in that moment, Kelly and Lain came to a decision. The boys wanted to know her powers, so she'd show them.

"Keep dancing, boys," she told them, winking. The top book turned to a small statuette, just like the statue in her dreams. With her mind so focused on the image, she had put plenty of details into it, and it would stay that way for a while.

The statuette was a dancer, much like a statue someone had shown her in her childhood. The boys looked astonished at it, poking the thing while Kurt led her out of the school. The both of them looked around warily. They'd learned, even the newest students, that the use of powers was enforced much more seriously than any other rule. If Lain had been caught, she would be in trouble.

The two of them went home without a hitch, but Lain wasn't completely happy. There were still whispers going around and she was sure that not all of them were about Kurt. Call it her sixth sense, but she worried that she'd somehow given herself over to the powers of the gossip mill.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wolf:**I'm so sorry for being gone for so long! I have a psycho teacher and she consistently gives us three hours of homework, and on top of that I have my other subjects, and on top of _that_I have rehearsals for our spring (even though it's obviously WINTER here [and it's consistently below 0, too!]) musical, _Footloose_. That's a three hour practice where I'm on and off every other scene, so I barely have time to sleep. I'll be uploading something I was working on during lunch a couple of weeks ago and didn't finish until now pretty soon, so bear with me, please. Also, apologies for the short and crappy chapter. It's a bridge chapter and I'll start writing something good soon. Probably.

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It had been several days since meeting the boys. Kurt sighed at them. Hadn't he already told them not to alienate his mutant friends? It was true that they were allowed free reign around the mansion these days, but that didn't mean they had to go antagonize every mutant in the tri-state area about it.

"Seriously, though, Kurt," Ryan began, grinning when Kurt groaned. These guys were more annoying than he was when he wanted to be. That was quite the impressive feat considering the fact that they had to walk everywhere to get to where they wanted to be. Of course, that didn't stop them from walking around and trying to get into as much trouble as possible.

"Don't you have to go to the councilor's office now?" Mark asked, pointing to the clock. Like Kurt, he didn't enjoy Ryan's stories anymore. They were funny the first couple of times, but since they'd been friends for so long, there was no story they hadn't heard from him.

Kurt groaned and picked up his backpack, running toward the office. He was already five minutes late and the office ladies didn't swoon over his charm anymore. He waved to the boys and overcame the urge to just teleport there by running faster and longer than he would normally. When he reached the office, he could rightfully say that he was out of breath, especially considering the fact that where he'd been talking to Mark and Ryan was across the compound of the school.

"You're late," one of the ladies behind a desk told him. Kurt nodded, panting and hoping that he wouldn't have to reschedule.

"Lucky for you the other appointment ran long," another woman said, this one with a little more good cheer. It was no surprise to see that some of the workers were sour. The office for councilors was decidedly small and unappealing. The paint was peeling in places and there was a layer of dust on the upper corners of things. Most of the seats and desks were too big for the room, even though they were still too small for their intended purpose. The students kept asking for improvements, but all the money went into their sinkhole of a gym, which still faced a year of modifications even though people had been donating like mad to get it back up and running as it had been.

The person walking out of the office was the last person Kurt expected to see there. Lydia jumped backwards when she saw him, letting out a small squeak. Then she blushed and waved, looking down and smiling sheepishly.

"Kurt," the guidance councilor said before Lydia had a chance to say anything. Kurt opened his mouth to say his goodbyes, but Lydia slipped away.

Stepping into the office, Kurt was mildly surprised to find a new desk in it. The councilor was a middle-aged woman with a happy face, but she usually didn't change around her furniture, mostly because of the small budget.

The councilor, Mrs. Reed, interrupted Kurt's thoughts. "So, I heard the rumors about you," she said, laughing a little. "Have a seat and we'll talk about it."

"That's not really what I want to talk about," Kurt sighed, fiddling with his pants after sitting down. Mrs. Reed raised an eyebrow and her smile grew just a little. She was good at getting students to talk about what was really bothering them, but Kurt didn't usually disagree with her chitchatting.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Mrs. Reed asked.

Kurt leaned back in his chair. "Let's say that I have this friend," Kurt began, thinking how fake this story must sound. "She's a nice girl, but she's got some problems and not a lot of people like her because she's really shy. How can I get my friend to be friends with my other friends?"

"If it's Mark and Ryan, she won't be friends for a while," Mrs. Reed told him matter-of-factly. "Those two are the kind of boys you either like or dislike. But could you tell me more about this friend of yours?"

Kurt shifted uncomfortably. He felt a little bad going about it like this, but he didn't really want to leak Lydia's secrets out. She didn't even want the professor to know about her mental crowd, so she really wouldn't like it if the school councilor found out about her personalities. The story would be spread amongst the teachers by morning, and then half the student body by the end of the next day.

"Let's just say that she has really bad mood swings," Kurt said, smirking a little. "She gets really shy, and then violently angry from one moment to the next. And she talks to herself sometimes."

"Kurt, everyone talks to themselves, even you and I," Mrs. Reed told him. "Your friend is a typical teenager. She'll have no problem making friends if she isn't pushed too badly." The older woman paused before she got a devious look in her eyes. "So, is this 'friend' the girl who supposedly jumped you?"

"I heard that was supposed to have been a boy who jumped me," Kurt pouted. "Now the stories are getting all mixed up."

They chatted about nothing for a while, with Kurt vaguely touching on his real worries about Lydia not fitting in. He never mentioned names, and it was unlikely that Mrs. Reed would be able to place a name with some abstract details.

"But do you like this friend of yours?" Mrs. Reed finally asked, toward the end of their appointment. "I mean, you talk about her a lot for just being friends."

Kurt jumped backwards and nearly tipped his chair over. "I have Amanda!" he said a little too loudly. "I like Amanda!" His skin paled under the fake image that Mrs. Reed saw, but the woman must have seen something in his expression because she apologized.

"Mrs. Reed," someone said after knocking on the door. "Your next appointment is here." Kurt stood up quickly and smiled at the woman.

"Same time next week, remember," Mrs. Reed told him, meeting his eyes. Kurt only waved and walked off, humming. His talks with Mrs. Reed were something not a lot of people knew about him, but every time he did it he felt better about whatever was troubling him. It wasn't that Mrs. Reed helped him solve problems, but rather that she listened without judging, even when Kurt brought up things like how hard it was to keep his powers in check during school when it was so much easier to just teleport to different classes.

Once the boy got home, he found out that he missed a lot of what he was supposed to be doing for training. Lydia looked at him when he walked in, and laughed as Wolverine berated him about the common practice of _being on time_. Of course, all the others in the room laughed as well, because Wolverine chewing anybody out was funny, as long as the person laughing wasn't the one being yelled at.

There wasn't a lot more to do in training, so Kurt was allowed to see Lydia when she stopped in the kitchen and got a few things to eat. She noticed him watching her and her movements were a little hesitant, like she would be yelled at in any moment.

"So, what were you doing in the guidance office?" Kurt asked, smirking. Lain rolled her eyes and continued making her sandwich with a little more confidence. She assembled her food like she didn't care what went into her stomach.

"I was talking through my problems," Lain told him wryly. "It helps." Kurt sighed. She was quoting the poster in the office about the guidance councilors. That was one way of avoiding answers, he told himself. Lain was the kind of clever when she wasn't being horribly shy.

"If you're not going to be truthful, you shouldn't say anything at all," Kurt told her, grinning once more. Lain picked up her finished sandwich and took a bite, shredded lettuce immediately leaking out the other side. Kurt saw the girl blush and catch the extra food dropping out of her meal, and she ate it quickly.

The girl finished the sandwich in seconds and even Kurt, the King of Food, was surprised at just how big the girl's stomach was. She could stuff a monster sandwich in seconds, so she must have been just being polite when she barely ate anything at dinner.

Lain knew something that Kurt didn't know about the guidance office, but there was no way she would tell him what she'd been talking about with the woman. It was personal and she really didn't want to share her view on the few rumors that had reached her ears. She knew that something was going to go around about her eventually. It was impossible for her not to have someone slip up and tell her exactly what she'd been catching in the almost-conversations that she could ignore. Unfortunately, she was readily recognizable and there was no way she was going to be able to just ask.

Where had the rumors come from? Why was this small thing making her so uneasy? Was there a spark of truth in those rumors about Kurt? That thought sparked a fire of jealousy in the Lydia collective. They all liked Kurt, or didn't hate him to the extent that it could be called indifference.

The girls slept this time, forcing their minds into the darkness that was dreamland.

* * *

Also, sorry about the stupid ending. I was writing, and I had the end in my mind, and then I stepped away from the computer and all my inspiration left me... So, I'll have a time skip and reassess the situation, probably doing something unexpected to reach the impossible ending I have for this story. If you want an idea in the story, just ask and I'll do my best because, frankly, I have no means to reach my end, if you get what I mean. Wow, that last sentence was long.

Ciao!


	6. Chapter 6

**Wolf:** Sorry for not updating…. Don't kill me! But anyway, I managed to get some pretty nice words down this chapter, and it's longer to make you not hurt me. Reviews are always appreciated, and I've got a couple of other oneshots planned for writing before I update this. I promise, though. If I get another ten reviews on the story, I'll update within the day of the tenth review. (Cross my heart and hope my pants don't spontaneously combust, causing my death) Disclaimer is, as always, on my profile page.

* * *

"Why don't you come, too, Lydia?" one of the girls asked, snapping Lydia out of her inner monologue. She hadn't really paid attention to the last few days, listening to others but not actually acting on anything she did. There was no reason to, yet. However, with these people she called housemates talking to her, Lydia realized that she would have to agree to whatever it was. It was either that or she would be forced to help them anyway. That was how living together worked.

"I guess so," Lydia began, not meeting the eyes of the girls. She didn't want to give them a chance to talk to her about the plans that she didn't know about. It would have been drastic if the girl had been caught in a moment of complete oblivion.

"Good, then I'll meet you in the living room at midnight tonight," Kitty said with a huge smile. "Wear shoes to dance in, not heels. We'll be partying all night if the professor doesn't catch us." Lydia looked up at the other girls with something like confusion. Unfortunately, none of the others knew quite how to respond and all of them went about their planning, talking about how they would steal Scott's keys for their ride and how they would outwit their pesky teachers.

"So, we can get Jean to come along," Kitty was saying, looking at the others with convincing features. "I'm sure she can be cool, and if we get caught outside it'll be okay because she's with us."

"I don't know if she'd come," Rogue said doubtfully. "I'm more concerned with how we're going to get out of the building without setting off the alarms."

"Hello," Kitty replied sarcastically. "I _walk_ through _walls_. We can get out of the house."

"The rest of us don't, remember?" Rogue reminded her. "Let's remember that not all of us can just walk through the gates."

"Isabella can turn off the system," one of the other girls muttered, almost to herself. "If we can get her to do something about the cameras, we should be in the clear." Instantly, Kitty's eyes lit up and she seemed to be happy with their temporary solution.

"Lydia, don't you know Isabella the best?" she asked, turning to the girl. Lydia sunk into Lain completely, turning widened eyes on the girl who had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"I don't really talk to her, but I suppose I know her," Lain murmured. "I mean, we talk during class and everything, I guess." Accompanying the words were the quick wringing of the hands and a slight blush. Lain obviously wasn't the girl to show up under pressure, but unfortunately, none of the other girls knew any more than the dominant personality.

"You can ask her for us, can't you?" Kitty asked, her eyes getting large and her pout growing more pronounced. _Pretty cute_, Kelly thought with a mental wink in Lain's direction. _But I know you go for the tall, dark, and furry types._ Lain shoved back on that thought and her words were made up for her by Kelly before she could do anything about it.

"I suppose I could," the girl said, much to the approval of the girls assembled. A couple of boys who were trying to listen in jumped with the sudden screams while Lydia was pushed out of their circle and toward the direction of Isabella's room. Kitty gave the girl a quick thumbs up to show her support, but that was the extent of Lydia's involvement with the girls.

The multiple personalities made their way down the hall where it got quieter and eerier. There was a strange buzzing in the back of Lydia's head, like her ears were ringing. That was the biggest sign that Isabella was close. The girl always carried the sound of silence with her, and the tech mutant was pretty good at controlling that sound to be so annoying it made even the professor want to rip his nonexistent hair out.

Lydia stopped at a door she knew lead to either help or the ridicule of the other girls for the next few days. "Enter," a young voice called to the other side, making the door open with a flick of the wrist that Lydia didn't see.

"Hey, Isabella," Lain said quietly, standing in the doorway awkwardly while a girl even smaller than she was sat in a corner working on something. The girl was dark-skinned and very bright, even when she had her eyes focused and her brow was creased in concentration. Isabella was very pretty, although a little on the flat side, and her hair curled out in tight rings, bouncing whenever her head moved.

"Who wants what?" Isabella asked, her eyes never leaving the gadget she was working on. Lain seemed startled for a moment before she sat down on the floor and put on her best 'please, I'm telling you my life depends on you agreeing to all of my demands' face.

"Could you do the girls and me a favor?" Lain asked, her voice a little quieter than it had been in the living room. There weren't nearly as many people in this room, so she wasn't very nervous. She'd spoken with Isabella a few times, never very personally, but that gave her a little more confidence in herself with getting favors granted.

"That depends on the favor," Isabella told her, looking up for the first time since Lain got into the room. "Spit it out or I'll rip it out of you, Lydia. I get that you're not into speaking all that much, but this is ridiculous."

Lydia looked a little depressed at that, but she decided to stop beating around the push and just ask. The worse Isabella could say is 'no' and then the girls could find another way to outwit the security system. It was meant not to let people in, not to keep them from getting out.

"Could you turn the security cameras off when we sneak out tonight?" the girl asked, looking hopeful in some attempt to convince Isabella.

"Where are you going?"

"I think we're partying." This came out a little more uncertain than necessary, but that was alright. Isabella seemed hooked at the idea of a party. She even put down her little toy to listen to what Lain had to say about the matter.

"Can I come?" Isabella wanted to know, trying to look uninterested.

"I don't see a reason why you couldn't." This was flat and certain. Kitty never told people that they couldn't come, and that was the bottom of the matter. It wasn't like any of the girls formed very different cliques. Most mutants tended to stick together no matter what happened. They were family, even if they didn't get along.

"Then I'm in." Isabella looked at Lydia with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't know you were into the partying thing, Lydia. Do you have address to wear tot the clubs?"

"I'm sure I can find something," Lydia replied. "Do you have a dress in mind?" Immediately, Isabella stood and showed Lydia a dashing outfit hanging on a rack. It was a light blue miniskirt with plenty of ruffles sewn into the pleats and a black lacy shirt that looked like it was expensive. Underneath the outfit were strappy boots that looked really cute, especially with the ribbon up the front of them.

"I've been saving this for something fun," Isabella admitted. "Let's raid your closet for some clothes, too." The tech mutant led the way back to Lydia's bedroom, and the girl had nothing to say in the matter. Whatever Isabella wanted, it seemed, Isabella got. Kitty passed them in the hall and Lydia waved, giving the girl an approving sign. Without saying a word, Kitty gave a jump for joy and ran to tell the others.

The two younger girls spent the better part of an hour sorting through every piece of clothing Lydia possessed, eventually deciding on an outfit Lydia would have never put together. Isabella was pretty talkative once Lydia gave the alright, and the multiple personalities hardly had to supply conversation. As a matter of fact, it was hard to get a word in edgewise once Isabella got on the subject of her interests.

"And I'm going to miss my show," the girl wrapped up once she finished dressing Lydia in several outfits for that night. "I'll see you at midnight, I guess. I'll turn off the camera before that, though, or something might get through to the professor." Isabella left then, not bothering to say goodbye. No one really cared about things like that in the house. After all, they would be seen again at the next meal, so there was no point in goodbyes that lasted no more than a few hours at most.

"I'll see you then," Lain replied after the door closed. She waved at the empty space and then sat down. Tonight was going to be a pain in the rear, she knew. She wasn't a party person, and had never been the sort to enjoy getting hot and sweaty with strangers she didn't even want to know outside of the clubs. That life was more for Kitty and the others, but there was no changing the facts now. Lain was just going to have to deal with the parties.

_How about me?_ Ritzie wanted to know. _I like parties._ Lain quickly agreed and handed over the steering wheel while the girl walked the halls, nodding to a couple of the girls that she knew were going with her on the midnight breakout.

"I can't wait for tonight," Kitty murmured to people under her breath, looking at Lydia and smiling. "The boys are so cute when they're confused." Lydia noticed that the males of the house seemed to be under the impression that some of the girls were talking about them, so they strutted along. In reality, all of the girls were talking about the partying and none of them were so stupid that they speak about it blatantly in front of the professor and the other teachers, especially the telepaths. Instead, code words were pulled from memories long ago and everyone but the males and the adults seemed to be in on the secret.

"How big is this going to be?" Ritzie wondered to herself, looking at the girls while they talked outfits and traded items that would probably never see their original closets again. Exchanging clothes was supposedly a great way to get people to know you, but Ritzie just thought that people were strange. She walked outside and shivered in the wind before she settled in the garden to watch people coming and going.

Wolverine was outside as well, but the girl tried to avoid him as much as possible. He knew her secret, so she didn't want him to bring it up in front of the wrong ears. In order to do that, all she had to do was avoid conversing with the guy. It really wasn't all that hard, either. Logan wasn't the type to talk someone's ear off, especially about something he wasn't interested in.

Ritzie watched everything move at a fast rate around her, ignoring the fact that she was hungry and cold. It was just one of those days and the girl didn't feel like letting people know anything about her other than the fact of her existence, which would be a little hard to hide.

Before the girl could fall asleep out there, she went in for dinner, which was an eerily silent affair. No one had anything on their minds but the coming party, or why the girls were acting so strange. No one would talk about the party, so no one talked. The teachers probably noticed something was up, which would explain why once dinner was over everyone went back to their rooms and the teachers patrolled the house, wondering why everyone was so strangely silent. Ritzie squealed at the outfit the girls had chosen earlier, and she put it on first, intent on using her little mirror to put on makeup she'd snuck into the school.

The girl was good with her hands, or so it appeared, because by ten Ritzie was looking glamorous and everyone who wasn't asleep had gathered in the living room, looking out for teachers. Isabella looked really cute in her outfit, and Kitty looked good in everything she wore, so all in all the girls looked stunning.

"The cameras are off," Isabella told the others. "Let's go!" Kitty smiled and Rogue took out a set of keys she'd stolen from a certain Cyclops. Jean seemed to be out of the loop this time and she was nowhere to be found. That was good because this was a girl's night out, not a teacher's night out. No one wanted her to rub it in their faces the next morning that they were tired because of a party.

The girls piled into the car and Ritzie saw for the first time exactly who was there. Rogue and Kitty were up front, with Isabella sitting pretty in the middle. A girl named Ruby, one of the students who had transferred in about the same time Lydia had, was also in the car, and Magma sat at the window seat, looking like she'd rather have been sleeping.

In the other car, there were more new girls and Jubilee, as well as a very perky Wolfsbane. It seemed that every girl in the place except Jean and a few of the other new girls was piled in two cars that were headed downtown. Everyone was dressed to kill, and the outfit Lain had thought was over the top fit right in with the others.

They drove in semi-silence, talking about nothing but the clubs they wanted to hit and the boys they hoped were still out and around. The clubs closed at two, after all. They could stay out and hit the town for a bit afterwards before going home.

"I brought a credit card if we want to get some movies for tomorrow night," Isabella announced. "I'm buying if someone else covers my drinks."

"I'll do it," Kitty volunteered. "I want some movies!" the girls laughed at the inappropriate excitement in the girl's voice. They practically jogged to keep up with her when she bolted from the car and went to the clubs. No one bothered with checking them for ID. That would have been completely unnecessary since all they wanted to do was dance. Besides, Ruby's powers were making things appear as they were not, so they could have gotten in carrying slips of paper.

The girls had a pretty good time dancing in the first club, and they didn't bother moving on to the second. There were plenty of cute older guys in college that were hanging around, and Kitty was on the verge of getting picked up by one of the older and craftier of the college boys. Luckily, Ritzie could look scary when she wanted to and she and Kitty danced most of the night with no interference.

When everyone was forced out of the place, the girls looked at each other and laughed. Most of them had ended up with a beer or two in hand, except for Rogue (because she wasn't a fan), Kitty (because she didn't want that guy putting anything in it), and Ritzie (mostly because she got yelled at every time she tried). The drivers decided, they hit the movie rental place on their way home, ignoring the looks they got as a dozen rated-seven-or-higher girls appeared in party clothes in a store at two in the morning.

"Well, that was fun," Ritzie said with a huge smile lighting up her features. Isabella, who had had probably too many to count, looked behind her and blinked a couple of times.

"You can smile?" she asked, looking surprised. Ritzie seemed hurt at that, but Isabella was completely oblivious. "I thought that the rumor about you and Kurt was completely unfounded, but I guess since you can smile you have a heart after all."

Kitty noticed that Ritzie seemed a mixture between angry at the insult and curious at the statement, so she put a hand over Isabella's mouth and hoped that the drunk girl wouldn't drool.

"What rumor?" Ritzie wanted to know.

"You asked Kurt out," Kitty said with a shrug. "You're madly in love with him. Stuff like that. It's just one of those rumors that went around with the other one about Kurt so don't worry about it."

Ritzie froze anyway, looking shocked. No one should have known about Lain's crush on Kurt except for the people who shared her head! How had someone else found out about it? Then her more rational minds bumped those thoughts out of her head and the girl relaxed. It was probably just an unfounded rumor anyway. No one knew about what had happened in the head of the girl who suffered from unrequited love and multiple personalities.

None of the girls spoke after that and everyone was very glad when they made it home without anyone barfing on the seats. No one wanted to clean that up and it seemed that the girls in the other car had made it home as well, although Rogue seemed to be happy she was no longer driving.

The girls piled into the house, intent on calling it a night, but they stopped when the light turned on before they could flip the switch. "Hello, girls," a female voice greeted them from behind. The girls turned and saw Storm standing in the doorway, with the professor next to her and Jean behind them both. None of them looked happy and Storm seemed to be the angriest, if the sudden gust of wind in the house had anything to say about it. A few seconds later, Beast, Scott, and Wolverine had joined the group of angry teachers and the girls were evenly numbered, bordering on outnumbered, by the people they were going to have to con, especially if you only counted the sober ones.

"Hello, professor," Kitty said with a nervous smile. "It's a nice night outside, isn't it?" The girl laughed for a bit before she seemed to want to break under pressure. Ritzie noticed that and put an arm on her shoulder, warning Kitty with her eyes. They couldn't fess up to the crime without getting it beaten out of them. They wouldn't get another chance to party for a while, so they had to live it up while they could, no matter what the teachers said about it.

"Could you tell us where you've been for the past four hours?" Jean asked, her arms across her chest. Her fingers tapped angrily at her arm, showing off all the annoyance she had bottled up inside of her.

"Lost on the path of life?" Jubilee said uncertainly. The girls laughed from sheer nervous energy and Ritzie wished that Jean was on their side, helping them out. The professor would probably forgive them, but any of the others would get them in trouble, especially Logan. He would probably make them run laps for the next three days.

"That's a good idea," Jean told Ritzie sweetly, looking at Logan. "What would you like their punishment to be for leaving the house in the middle of the night to go partying?"

Logan smiled and the girls groaned. The hangovers they expected in the morning was nothing compared to the horrible, terrible, and evil plan that the Wolverine had made up for them to 'learn their lesson'. Still, Ritzie was a little reluctant to hand over the control once more, although when they washed off the makeup and went to sleep, none of the girls were awake enough to notice anything out of the ordinary with the girl. They just wanted to get as much sleep as possible before they were worked to the death and their parents had to be contacted.

The girls seemed to get through the hangovers just fine, although Lain made no effort to help them and looked down on the ones that got particularly drunk. They went off to school like normal, ignoring the catcalls of the boys who recognized them from the party. There was no chance they were going to acknowledge them, and the boys seemed confused, which turned into aggression when some of the males from the party thought it was okay to get within ten feet of the high school girls.

When the girls got home, their real punishment started. Logan had them wash the cars they used first, assigning some Scott's car and giving him charge to work out all of his sadistic pleasures with their hoses at his command. The girls who weren't working on the jeep were outside, gardening. The ones who weren't doing that were cleaning the Danger Room, top to bottom, without mutant powers. None of the girls looked happy about the punishments, but they really couldn't do anything about it. Kitty decided that she wouldn't complain even once, so there was no chance the others would. That would have been rude and it would have just slowed them down.

Lain cleaned without a word to any of the girls. It was hours before she was allowed to have a break, but they had finished many of their chores for the day by then and she was happy with t he result. Unfortunately, they had training after that and then they had more things to clean before they went to bed. It seemed that they were going to be under house arrest for the next few days, and Lain wouldn't have been surprised if Logan tried to extend the free labor for a couple of months. With it getting colder outside because of an approaching storm, most of the students would be happy to make messes that the girls had to clean up after.

"Still," Kitty sighed, wiping her forehead. "It was fun."

"Let's watch that movie sometime," Isabella added, grinning at the other girls while all of them worked at cleaning the Danger Room. They all worked just a little faster, much to Logan's dismay. The point of the exercise had been to destroy their morale, not increase it. He was going to have to work them harder than before to get them to never do that again.

Obviously, he had failed before. Kitty was a repeat offender and Jean looked more like she was angry that she didn't get to go than that they went. Now, if the girls could turn Scott to the dark side, they would have everything they needed for another clean getaway. They had gotten pretty far without the older kids, and now they would be able to get even more because they could semi-rely on Jean as an ally.

"I vote we watch it tonight, while Wolverine is sleeping," Ruby told the other girls, looking around to make sure the wrong ears didn't hear her. "I've got a DVD player in my room." The message was passed down quickly and none of the girls could find any fault with the plan, especially since they were already in trouble. The worse Logan could do would be to add more punishment, and that was nothing compared to the load they already had to do. If he had his way, they would work until their graduation, and that was perfectly alright with many of them.

Lain sighed while she worked, wondering what she had gotten herself into. There was no way she was this type of girl, although it was plenty of fun to do. She hadn't gotten close to another person for a very long time, and as it was it seemed she was having a perfect day for social friendships. If Kurt and his friends showed up, it would have been truly perfect indeed.

When the girls moved outside, Lain had a small heart attack. Sitting in the garden were Kurt and his friends, and all of them stared at the girls who were serving their punishments. Kitty smiled broadly while she trimmed bushes, trying to keep as much pride as she could while she was serving as a servant to a sadistic mutant.

The whole group worked like that, not allowing Logan to see them sweat. He would probably load more work onto them, but they were going to watch that movie tonight and nothing would stop them. Nothing could bring them down unless they wanted it to, even the laughter of the guy they lived with and his two friends.

"We should have trashed Scott's car," Isabella sighed, pulling up weeds. "It would have been worth it to see the look on his face when he found barf in the seats."

The girls laughed, and that was house they made it through their day. There would have been no other way to survive, but they managed somehow. Logan wasn't happy with the results, but it was hard to ruin the moods of girls when they were promised a secret movie night.

* * *

Well, movie night! What will happen next, I wonder? Well, I don't wonder since I know, but you all can wonder. Remember, review. I know I get enough hits on the story to make a measly ten no challenge. I'll give special hugs to whoever can point out my nerdy British reference, too. Until next time, ciao.


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